1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to woodworking appliances, and more particularly to a vacuum attachment for a router table for collecting wood chips, dust, and other debris during operation of the router.
2. Description of the Related Art
A router is used to cut grooves into wood for ornamental and decorative purposes in articles, such as cabinets, doors and furniture. When a conventional router is used, a large amount of dust and chips are typically thrown from the router bit, through an exhaust opening, and into the surrounding environment.
A motor of the router pulls air through the router for cooling purposes. This necessary airflow, however, scatters chips and dust around the work area. The chips thrown from the router bit can be harmful to the operator, causing cuts and scrapes on the user's body, as well as allergic reactions if the operator is allergic to the type of wood.
In the past, it has been known to provide an attachment for the router that can perform the function of deflecting chips that are removed by the router bit from a surface of the work piece. Such attachments are typically positioned generally perpendicular to the rotational axis of the router bit. However, these deflecting guards tend to only scatter the chips, dust, and debris around the router table, rather than providing a dust, chip and debris-free environment.
Dust removal and collection systems have been devised for various types of power tools. However, an effective removal or extraction of the wood chips, debris, and dust when performing routing operations has posed a problem that has not been satisfactorily solved, especially when using a conventional table router. The conventional dust removal and collection systems tend to focus on the router table top, but neglect the area under the router table, where nearly all of the wood chips, debris, and dust fall. One reason for only focusing on the top of the router table is due to the mounting mechanisms of the router under the table. Where fixtures or handles are used for mounting the router, it is quite difficult to employ any type of removal or collection system during the operation of the router. Without a satisfactory system, the user must simply tolerate the wood chips, debris, and the dust throughout the entire usage of the router.
Thus, a vacuum attachment for a router table solving the aforementioned problems is desired.